We can reshape our outlook on life

Lenses are the tools we use to see the world in different hues, while outlooks are the views we hold to make sense of what we’re told.

Together they shape our vision, and affect our thoughts and decisions.

The fortunate among us, who generally see things in a positive light, tend to be engaging and uplifting when interacting with others – sometimes described as ‘looking at life through rose-tinted glasses’.

But, should they feel the need to make any apologies for their healthy ‘high road’ disposition as opposed to the habitual ‘low road’ travellers through life?

On many levels, the lenses that colour our views on life determine our outlooks and, in all likelihood, our contributions to society and us.

The oft-quoted ‘glass half-full/halfempty’ depiction of the attitudes of these clearly distinguishable types of people mirrors the lenses, which dominate their perspectives.

In Steven R Covey’s words: “We see the world, not as it is, but as we are – or as we are conditioned to see it.”– The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change.

The questions we arguably need to address with ourselves are whether we are comfortable with our outlooks, and whether there is a need to reshape or renew our lenses.

The discipline and effort required could be disconcerting in the shortterm, but the rewards are likely to be life-changing and hugely worthwhile in most of the key areas of being.

In the words of Erik Pevernagie: “If we only see things through the coldeyed lens of factuality and don’t listen to the yearning and screaming of unexpressed feelings, life may remain bleak in a mire of clinical hollowness, sodden in apathy and indifference.” (painting Morning after). It is an infinitely more rewarding experience to interact with optimistic people than with their opposites.

Most would agree this applies at all levels of human discourse, even if the pessimists are sometimes more realistic in their submissions.

Craig D Lounsbrough captures an apt description of the lens of the pessimist in the words: “We must clean the lens of our hearts to see the state of our souls. However, too often the former is too dirty to even know that the latter exists.”

Outlook and its close cousin, attitude, define who we are and how we interact with people, situations and the matters of life.

There could well be times when we need a conscious mental effort to override a lens that could negatively affect those immeasurably influential cousins.

Three quotes that encapsulate this train of thought:

“Life isn’t all perpetual bliss, nor is it one woeful weeping session. But you can concentrate so hard on noticing moments of one or the other that either a bright outlook or dim expectations becomes your regular illusion. ”– Richelle E Goodrich,

“It’s your outlook on life that counts. If you take yourself lightly and don’t take yourself too seriously, pretty soon you can find the humour in our everyday lives. And sometimes it can be a lifesaver. ”– Betty White

“Your outlook upon life, your estimate of yourself, your estimate of your value are largely coloured by your environment. Your whole career will be modified, shaped, molded by your surroundings, by the character of the people with whom you come in contact every day. ”– Orison Swett Marden

The reality of our human path is that it is characterised by numerous events and situations beyond our control. Many have found that, to their great relief and fine nourishment for their outlooks, we can control our attitudes to all of life’s challenges.

There seems to be little doubt that the positivity that flows from a healthy lens feeds the soul.